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What does the command ./ mean? For example, sometimes we call a file with ./config, sometimes ../config, thanks

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  • There almost certainly is a duplicate out there @Joren but in this case, that isn't a good one as it doesn't really explain anything about why it's required for executing things. Edit: Hmm maybe I'm making a bad assumption about it being executable.
    – Oli ♦
    Oct 13, 2013 at 18:21
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    ./some_file means run some_file in the current directory. ../some_file means run some file in the parent directory. Perhaps this question explains it better: Why do I need to type ./ before executing a program in the current directory?
    – Warren Hill
    Oct 13, 2013 at 18:47

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./config means you're calling something in the current working directory. In this case config is an executable. You have to specify the path for executables if they're outside your $PATH variable and that's why config isn't enough.

../config would be used if the config executable were in the parent of the current working directory.

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